Indonesia rejects intervention over schools’ alleged links with Gulen

Horizon International School, Indonesia
Horizon International School, Indonesia


Date posted: July 29, 2016

Jakarta (ANTARA News) – Indonesia rejects any intervention with the country’s internal affairs including over alleged links of a number of Indonesian Islamic boarding schools with Fethullah Gulen, a popular imam, accused by the Turkish government of masterminding a recent failed coup attempt in that country.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said here on Friday Indonesia is a democratic country that consistently adopts active and independent policy.

Fethullah Gulen is a popular Turkish imam, the founder of the Islamic Transnational Religious and Social Movement, now living in the United States.

He was repeatedly accused by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being behind the recent failed coup attempt by a faction of the Turkish military.

On Thursday (July 28) the Turkish embassy issued a news release asking the Indonesian government to close all schools having links with Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

The release gave a list of 9 schools allegedly having links with the Gulen movement including 1. Pribadi Bilingual Boarding School of Depok, 2. Pribadi Bilingual Boarding School of Bandung, 3. Kharisma Bangsa Bilingual School in South Tangerang, 4. Semesta Bangsa Bilingual Boarding School in Semarang, 5. Kesatuan Bangsa Bilingual Boarding School in Yogyakarta, 6. Sragen Bilingual Boarding School in Sragen, 7. Fatih Boys Shool in Aceh, 8. Fatih Girls School in Aceh, 9. Banua Bilingual Boarding School in South Kalimantan.

Earlier on Friday Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Saifuddin said the Indonesian Government is still studying the request.

He said the Religious Affairs Ministry wants to know if the Turkish government referred to public schools or Islamic schools having any links with Gulen.

“If what they referred to is Islamic schools, it would be for the Religious Affairs Ministry to answer, but otherwise it would be for the Ministry of Education to answer,” he said.

After studying the request the Indonesia government would officially send its answer via the Turkish embassy here, the minister said.

However, Pramono said until now there has been no official request from the Turkish government as said in the news release issued by the embassy.(*)

Source: Antara News , July 29, 2016


Related News

Turkish Gov’t Systematically Violated 12 Fundamental Rights During Emergency Rule

Sezgin Tanrıkulu, a deputy from Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), has announced that Turkish government has systematically violated 12 fundamental human rights during the ongoing state of emergency in the country.

Criticism rains down on gov’t for insisting on closing prep schools

In the meantime, BDP Co-chairman Selahattin Demirtaş struck a similar tone to the prime minister regarding the prep schools’ closure, saying that prep courses must be shut down. Demirtaş said the closure is a political as well as commercial issue, casting doubts on the government’s desire but expressing his approval at shutting down prep schools.

Thai Minister asks Turkish investors to invest more in education in Thailand

Winners at various International Science Olympiads from Turkish schools in Thailand paid a visit to Science and Technology Minister Peerapan Palusuk. The minister asked Turkish entrepreneurs to invest more in education sector in his country. Turkish schools’ students in Thailand have been representing the country successfully at International Science Olympiads. Students from Chindamanee School, Siriwat […]

Pilot who flew Erdoğan on coup night fired from Turkish Airlines over Gülen links

Barış Yurtseven, the pilot of the plane that brought Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to İstanbul on the night of a failed military coup attempt last July, was fired from Turkish Airlines in February over alleged links to the Gülen movement.

Who is Fethullah Gulen? (by National Catholic Reporter)

By blaming Fethullah Gulen and the Gulen movement for the coup attempt, Mr. Erdogan’s authoritarian tendencies have only increased as witnessed by the tens of thousands arrested and detained, and the radical curtailing of free speech. It now appears that in Mr. Erdogan’s hands Turkey’s future and that of the Middle East will be less democratic, less stable and more tumultuous than ever.

Gov’t’s pressure for closure of Turkish schools abroad yields no result

The movement that started out a quarter-century ago to support education for children abroad starting with the autonomous Azerbaijani republic of Nakhchivan has now reached 160 foreign countries, with the founders of the movement and its volunteers welcomed with open arms around the world.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Pro-gov’t Islamist ideologue says Muslims can’t accept West or EU

Is Anybody Out There?

President Gül dismisses calls to help tackle political turmoil

A word on the power of the Fethullah Gulen-followers

Turkey Coup Attempt: Who is Fethullah Gülen, The Cleric Being Accused Of Orchestrating The Turmoil?

Why Gulen Should Not Be Extradited

The dominant assessment in NATO: Turkey’s President Erdoğan staged the coup himself

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News